CSPI complained late last year to the Beer Institute
about Bud Light advertising that violated its voluntary advertising
standards. Without taking any action, the Beer Institute passed our
complaint on to Anheuser-Busch, which rejected it off-hand. We then
asked the Federal Trade Commission to “take action to improve the beer
industry’s [advertising] complaint process and strengthen its voluntary
[advertising] standards.” In response, the FTC affirmed the need for
an independent external review process to strengthen the industry’s
self-regulatory practices.

Today the Wall Street Journal (2/2/2005)
featured an article, "Beer Industry Tests FTC's Patience," that
discussed the
FTC reaction to and further fallout from our Bud Light "Referee" ad
complaint. Based on beer industry comments in the article, the ads
will no longer be appearing, and the Beer Institute is considering the FTC’s
recommendation for an external review panel to address
advertising complaints.

CSPI commends these new developments and urges the Beer Institute to
expedite the creation of an external review panel, so that advertising
complaints from the public can be dealt with meaningfully.